The Hague, Netherlands – An ancient Catholic statue stolen from a church in southwestern Italy almost a decade ago has been recovered after a priest recognised its pictures when put for sale on social media.
The 700-year-old statue of “Our Lady of Mount Carmel” disappeared from a church in Pastena on Italy’s Amalfi Coast in August 2014, Eurojust said on Tuesday.
“It was offered for sale via an Italian antique dealer and bought in good faith by a Dutch collector who intended to resell it,” Europe’s judicial agency said in a statement.
The Dutch dealer posted pictures on social media which were spotted by the parish priest of Pastena “who contacted the Italian authorities,” the Hague-based Eurojust said.
A specialist cultural heritage unit of the Italian Carabinieri and Salerno’s public prosecutions office opened a probe.
They “later contacted Eurojust to initiate the process of retrieving and returning the artefact to the Amalfi Coast,” the agency said.
“The transfer of the statute took place in recent days,” Eurojust said.
The recovery of stolen religious artifacts often makes headlines.
This included the return of the “Precious Blood of Christ” relic, which was stolen from the Fecamp Abbey in France in June 2022 and found by well-know Dutch art sleuth Arthur Brand a month later.
jhe/cw
© Agence France-Presse
